The Short Demon King

Chapter 18

The walk back took an eternity. Neither of us dared utter a single word, so we were forced into the most uncomfortable silence possible. I plodded far behind her so she knew my exact location and wouldn't have to worry about me sneaking up behind her. The last thing I needed was another reason for her to fear me.

The sun had completely disappeared by the time we got back. Maya let me into the backyard instead of inside the house. There were a few chairs stacked outside, so I grabbed three of them as she opened the backdoor to get Kevin. She clearly didn't want me inside, and I would respect that.

Grass completely covered the small yard, making the chairs unstable. There wasn't much space out here. The only other thing in this yard was a small flower bed tucked snuggly into the corner of the fence. The bright plants looked well cared for. Someone must've enjoyed gardening.

A couple minutes passed before the two reemerged. Maya probably got him caught up on what happened, because his eyes revealed his concern. They sat in the chairs I placed closest to the house, far enough away that they could feel certain I wouldn't be able to attack them easily from that distance.

Once they were both seated, I said, "I just want to point out first thing that I tried my best not to lie to you both. All of this is really... really complicated. And, I didn't know how to bring it up with you both."

Kevin replied first, "Okay... so Maya just told me you have fangs that can pierce through skin and that you can heal wounds almost instantaneously. Is all this really true? It's hard to believe..."

"I uh... yeah. It's true. Here, I'll just show you."

I bared my fangs, then bit down on another finger. I flinched back from the pain, but tried my best to stay composed and hide it. There were much more pressing issues to deal with first.

I held out my finger so they could both clearly see it. The blood bubbling up hardened, sealing the rest in. A new layer of skin concealed it, completing the entire healing process in a manner of seconds. I hesitantly looked up once it finished.

Kevin's expression was almost a carbon copy of his sister's from when she saw it earlier. This time, Maya grabbed onto Kevin's arm for comfort while holding her breath. Both were speechless.

"I will say this isn't exactly normal, even for my kind." I started explaining, "but Maya's right. I'm not human. "

"Then what are you?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. There would be no returning from this moment. They either kicked me out here and now to never see me again, or Kevin's strange need to help people would let me stay just one more day.

"I'm a demon... from another realm."

Of course there was a lot more to say and explain to them, but this information alone was enough to make them both pause.

After a while, Kevin asked, "Actually? You're not messing with us, right?"

"No, I'm not. It's not much right now, but I somehow got part of my horn back too." I pushed down on my hair until the tip of the horn was just visible. "Here, do you see it?"

They squinted towards me, not wanting to come any closer to see it. I leaned forward and they examined it, barely able to see the horn through all my hair.

Kevin scratched the side of his head. "Is that why you kept saying you needed to go home but didn't know how? Because you're from a completely different realm?"

"Mhm."

"I guess that does explain why you didn't know what some of the most common things were... This is your first time in our, I guess... realm?"